Jury finds Philly man guilty in Montco fatal shooting

Girlfriend testified that he wanted to kill her former lovers.

April 27, 2004|By Pamela Lehman Of The Morning Call

After a prosecutor said the way to let evil thrive is for good people to do nothing, jurors took less than two hours to reach a verdict Monday in the case of a man charged with killing his girlfriend's lover.

Kenneth Burno, 33, of Philadelphia, was found guilty of first-degree murder, unsworn falsification to authorities and criminal conspiracy. The jury acquitted him of possessing an instrument of crime.

Burno will be sentenced within 90 days and remains in Montgomery County Prison.

He was charged with the December 2001 shooting death of John Davis, whose body was found in a warehouse parking lot.

Jones, 34, pleaded guilty last year to third-degree murder and agreed to testify against Burno.

Steele said only he was pleased with Monday's verdict. Burno's defense attorney, Tariq El-Shabazz, could not be reached for comment.

"Nothing is ever going to bring him back, but we're thankful that justice was served in this situation," said Kimberly Williams, who has three children with Davis. "The whole family is thankful for the verdict."

Jones, dubbed the "Black Widow" by prosecutors, said the killing happened because she conspired with Burno to kill her former lovers.

Jones, who faces 40 to 80 years in prison, said she drew up a "hit list" with Burno of her past lovers. Prosecutors said not all of the five men named on the list were past lovers.

Jones testified Burno said the men had to be killed or he would end their relationship.

Jones is serving a 5- to 10-year sentence for shooting Ronald Humphrey in October 2001. Humphrey, who was shot in the arm and survived, was one of the men on the list, according to Jones.

Jones testified that Burno controlled who she could talk to, where she could go and how much money she could spend. She said she had to call him several times a day to check in.

Burno's defense was that there was no scientific evidence to link him to Davis' death, Steele said. The gun wasn't found and the fingerprints at the scene had been wiped down. The "hit list" also was never found.

"Please, don't reward him for being a good murderer," Steele said to the jury. "All the evidence in this case points to him."